Newbie Turns Hobby Into An Online Business

You want to build an online business, but you’re a little worried about it. Maybe you don’t feel like you’re anything like me or some of the other people you’re seeing online building an online business. So is building an online business right for you? Can you do this, and can you build something that you’re passionate about?

So in today’s video, I have the pleasure of interviewing Shawn Lowry. He’s the “Let’s Go Feeshin” guy. And he has built an amazing brand around his passion.

I love what he has created here with his Let’s Go Feeshin’ brand. So many times, when people think about building an online business, they think in just this cookie cutter world of, “I have to be in the make-money-from-home or network marketing type stuff. So many people feel like they have to have this cookie cutter business. When, in reality, you can start from your passion, and build the business around that!

So please enjoy the video and our chat around how Shawn created this cult-like following around his love for feeshin, or enjoy the transcript below. Either way, I know you’ll get some great insights and hopefully some inspiration that you, too, can grow a brand you love around anything you are passionate about.

SHAWN: Well my brand is “feeshin,” That’s what I do in this, I spell it a little bit different. I spell it F-E-E-S-H-I-N, feeshin.

LEAH: That’s how he says it.

SHAWN: That’s how I say it, that’s how I talk, that’s kind of like my brand, you know that’s what I got goin’ on. Me comin’ in to marketing online audience, I thought I had to be the person to do the marketing videos and learn all this stuff and put it out there. But just like she said, I took my passion around my fishing brand I started putting out videos, all I did, I started putting out videos of stuff that I enjoyed doing. Which it really didn’t even seem like work. Really didn’t even seem like work, it’s just so natural, really didn’t seem like work. And I just started puttin’ my stuff out there, puttin’ my videos out there, my passion out there, I didn’t expect to happen what did actually happen to me, becoming a contributor to groups now, doing a lot of live videos, and other things. And it’s around fishing, it’s around stuff that I enjoy.

One of the reasons why I decided to go with this here brand, well actually I was coming to events. I was coming to events, I was watching other people, and other things, and I seen other people, they was out going and doing stuff for their little passions and everything. And I said, “Well hey, my passion’s fishing, so I can get out and do something with it.” So I got around some people, they was kind of telling me about my strength. They was like, “Hey we like the way you talk, “we like your voice.” Like how it was unique. Like everybody is. You’re unique in your own way.

You just might not be around the right people to tell you that. You’re unique in your own way, and I just started doing the videos, I just started making the videos, and I started getting some good responses from my videos that I was making, but I wouldn’t a never got it if I hadn’t started doing it. So I started putting new videos out and they got good responses. I started going on Facebook, I started putting videos in groups, and different things, and I started having people to reach out to me wanting me to do videos for them. They wanted me to get in their groups and do live videos in their groups. So I contributed to some Facebook groups, I got a YouTube channel now.

LEAH: And he’s very humble guys, but his videos do better than our videos. His videos are amazing. He’s funny, he can tell an amazing story. And he’s entertaining. And it’s fun, especially for people who like fishin’. But people who just think they like his accent. They like how he talks, he has a huge following. He gets recognized when he goes to Walmart. I’ve never had that happen. He goes to his local places and people are like, “Oh! You’re Shawn Lowry! Go feeshin. “Let’s go feeshin.”

He has an amazing response. He is doing content for groups that are 400+ thousand members. You’ve got your YouTube channel that you’re growing, he’s had videos go pretty viral on Facebook, with over 20,000 views. 20,000 views over a few years, I mean it’s good, but it’s not fabulous. But in short time guys.

He’s actually doing this, and I love that you’re thinking outside the box. And so many people get all wrapped up inside their heads. “I have to do it this way, “this is what other people are doing.” You said something that’s beautiful, is that we are all unique. And we all have our own strengths. So what is your passion? It could be quilting. It could be sewing. It could be crocheting, it could be cooking, homeschooling, whatever.

SHAWN: Anything.

LEAH: Feeshin. It could be anything. And you can craft a business around that. And what you’re doing so beautifully right now is just pouring value and content out to the marketplace, and building that audience. And I think so many folks think that they need to have an offer, they need to monetize, they need to make money right now.

Sorry, you need a job then, right? That’s what jobs are for. You do the work, you make the money right now. Businesses, if you’re investing time right now, building a fabulous audience that is absolutely in love with you, and the longer you do that, as you craft Feeshin Trip Getaways that people can purchase, and you can do all this really cool stuff. As you continue to grow, and that you’re ready for that, people are gonna be lining up with their credit cards. “I can go feeshin with Shawn Lowry?!” That’s gonna be a huge thing. So I think what you’re doing is beautiful.

What advice do you have for folks as you’re looking into starting an online business. Kind of going through the process of evaluating their strengths and figuring out really what their passion is.

SHAWN: My best advice for you is just to do what you really want and what you feel comfortable doing. But say you might not be comfortable filming yourself as you’re doing it, but it makes you feel good while you’re doing it. You just need to share that with other people. Film and share it with other people. People will start magnetically coming to ya. I got people that watch my videos from Australia. I mean it’s crazy. Something I never would have thought.

And like she said, even my hometown. I go to my hometown and just because I make feeshin videos and I put myself out there on the internet, people know who I am. Because of my videos that I put out there. But say if you never put the videos out there, people won’t recognize you, when you do got a product, or you got a service, or you got an offer that you want to put out there, and if nobody knows who you are, they’re not really gonna bite, you know? Like you say, you got to be what you are, but you got to start.

Do that first video. See when I first started, I just started doing these feeshin videos you said a couple years, ago. A year ago. It’s been about a year ago when I first started putting my first feeshin videos out. I always wanted to do it, I would talk about it. I would get groups of my friends and we would say, “One day we’re gonna start doin’ this right here.” Then I actually started doin’ it. That’s when I started getting results.

I wasn’t getting no views when I started. You can go back and look at my videos, my YouTube, my Facebook, nobody was really watching ’em when I first started doing it. But I kept coming back, back, and back. Three or four people started watching it, then 10 or 12 people, then you just kept goin’ it’s just gonna keep goin’ up. If you keep goin’, it’ll keep goin’. That’s just plain and simple. But you got to start.

LEAH: I heard some good advice once, that when you’re working to create a business what you need to ask yourself is, “What are you willing to do for two years, for free?” Two years. Maybe that’s sewing, maybe that’s whatever it its. Feeshin. You fish for free, right? You love fishing, right? You’ll do that for two years for free, absolutely.

And so what are you willing to do, what are you passionate about that you can share with the world? Build that loyal audience, and then maybe you get a business coach and some folks who can help on the marketing side, on how to monetize that, and how to really pull that together, but you can have a business that you love. You can build a business around your life, not just your life around your business. And that’s what I love about you, and I’m just amazed at your results and what you put together because honestly if I had seen you walking down the streets I wouldn’t bet, “Well, he’s an internet dude.” You know?

But he’s a good ol’ boy who loves to fish. And he’s got an awesome voice, and he’s got a great personality, and you’re very talented; sneakily talented at what you do. And so, I’m excited for you. If folks want to check you out, maybe they like to feesh, or their dads or husbands like to feesh, where could they find you?

SHAWN: You can go to YouTube or Facebook. You can go to LetsGoFeeshin. Find me on YouTube, Facebook, or you can go to LetsGoFeeshin.com check out my website. Some of my YouTube videos on there, you got to check that other stuff out.

LEAH: And feeshin with a F-E-E.

SHAWN: Yeah, F-E-E-S-H-I-N. That’s how you spell it. If you all wanna check it out

LEAH: Awesome. Well thank you very much for your time. Now, go check Shawn out!

Now Shawn is at a place where he is creating a fabulous brand that really speaks to an awesome target audience that he’s passionate about. But if you need help learning how to craft the perfect message, craft your brand, your online presence, make sure that you watch THIS VIDEO next. It’s a great video we’ve put together with a branding expert to help you learn how to craft the perfect message, the perfect brand for your online business.